Click on the images help you identify a black maple.
Form
Resembles sugar maple so closely that some botanists consider it a variety rather than a separate species. Although commonly smaller than sugar maple, it can reach heights of 80 to 100 feet, with a trunk diameter of 24 to 36 inches. When grown in the open, it has a tall, dense, compact crown, but in forests, a tall trunk supports a shallow, flat-topped crown.
Bark
On young trunks and branches, bark is thin, smooth, and pale gray. On old trunks, it is deeply furrowed and dark. Twigs are usually stouter than those of sugar maple and have conspicuous, warty lenticels.
Leaf
Leaves are simple, opposite on the stem, usually three-lobed, with each lobe tapering to a slender point. Margins are smooth or wavy, with drooping sides. Leaves are dark green above and yellowish green below, turning yellow, orange, or deep red in autumn. (Sugar maple leaves usually have five lobes.)
Fruit (seed)
Fruit is a samara occurring in double-winged, U-shaped pairs. Wings are about 1 inch long and slightly more divergent than those of sugar maple. A smooth, bright red-brown seed is enclosed at the base of each wing.
Range
Found in southeastern and south-central Minnesota. Shade-tolerant and slow-growing.
Wood uses
Wood is similar to sugar maple and used for the same purposes, sold as “hard maple.” The tree is desirable as a shade or ornamental species because of its dense foliage and bright fall coloring of yellow, orange, or scarlet.